One universal thing I’ve learned about parenting…it’s not easy. And yet it has been my greatest teacher.

Now add a divorce in the mix and it gets even more complicated. My former husband, Mark and I have disagreed on our parenting styles from the start. Now that we’re divorced those differences are magnified and usually add to the already tense relationship we have.

Even though we have differences, I have to admit I miss discussing Alex with another parent. That is why I am so thankful my girlfriend and I have been able to have open, honest communication about our kids. I welcome all feedback and insights about it. I realize I’m winging this parenting thing like everyone else. So when someone is willing to give me constructive feedback I’m all over it.

This morning Mark and I were discussing Alex possibly taking piano lessons. My thought was to wait until after the school year had started, to see how Alex was settling into 3rd grade and to see how he did with soccer he was already in. My concern was falling into the trap we had fallen Into last year with over scheduling him.

This morning Mark was pressing me to get him started with piano as it might help with his concentration, plus his sister had mentioned Alex really showed an ear for music. All of which I agreed with but I didn’t think now was a good time to start him in another activity. He asked me when I thought that good time might be. I said at least a couple of months to see where teachers thought he was and for us to get a feel for the homework load of 3rd grade. We had been warned it was going to be much more than last year’s load. More importantly, to be sure Alex was keeping up with all of it since he struggled so hard last year. By the end of the conversation he commented how hard parenting was. I agreed and said how nice it was that we could talk about it together.

My how some things have changed for the good between us from a year ago. I like those glimpses of us settling into this new relationship on a more positive note.